Yosh Han, A force of nature driving change in the fragrance community
Meet the woman championing inclusivity and innovation in the perfume world and making it smell a lot better.
If you are a fragrance enthusiast or perfumer on the West Coast, chances are you know Yosh Han. She is an award-winning perfumer, educator, and advocate whose work has significantly influenced the fragrance industry. Known for her innovative approach to scent creation and dedication to inclusivity, Han has been a cornerstone of the fragrance community in the Bay Area and beyond for over 20 years.
Yosh also consults on perfume design, olfactive trends, and scent culture. As if all of that weren’t enough, Yosh is also an avid sailor, racer, and underwater diver. Oh, and she’s a clairvoyant reader.
To me, Yosh embodies the best parts of this community: supporting others, sharing knowledge, and spreading the joy of scent. Below, she shares what she’ll be focused on in 2025, her insights on how the fragrance community has evolved, and great advice for enthusiasts and future perfumers.
*Note that Yosh answered these questions for me in November, so some of what you read below may have already happened!
How did you get into fragrance?
After college, I moved to Aspen, a small ski town in Colorado. While there, I was wandering around town and walked into a beautiful perfumery. At that time in my life, I was at a personal crossroads and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I thought about complementary medicine, but I didn’t want to be around sick people. So when I found the apothecary boutique, I thought, wow, what an interesting place with essential oils and fragrances! Instead of working with the infirmed, I leaned into wellness as luxury instead.
What inspired you to become a perfumer?
I am not one of those perfumers who have had a lifelong love affair with perfumes since childhood. Instead, my youth was filled with strange and wonderful smells from the Chinese herbalist and incense for our home altar, and delicious cooking from a diverse culinary range of Taiwanese and Japanese cooking. My dad still uses this camphor stick to relieve headaches, and as you can imagine, as an Asian American kid, I wanted to not smell like an herb shop because there was so much pressure to acclimate. Now, I relish in those scents that are comforting memories.
Can you share what you've been up to recently and what's ahead for 2025?
The heart of my brand has always been artistic commissions and artisan perfumery and I’m thrilled to be coming back to my roots with various projects. Earlier this summer, I created a juicy tropical floral, Limited Edition custom fragrance for American Perfumer inspired by my 2.5 month long South Pacific Odyssey, when I sailed round-trip, 8000 nautical miles from Santa Barbara, California to the Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti and back.
Next week, I will present in Tokyo at Digital Olfaction Society, Scents and Sonics of The Ocean: Multisensorial traces of lost and recovered memories of Sapelo Island a collaboration with composer Malte Leander, Academic writer and marine scientist, Julia Kubanek, and Ocean Memory Project and Benton Jacob which debuted in January 2024 at the Institute for Art and Olfaction. For Digital Olfaction Society’s global initiative to digitize city scents, I’ll be co-creating the Scent of San Francisco with Osmo AI scent technology.
As the Creative-in-Residence for The Battery, in San Francisco, one of my projects next year will be to produce a perfume panel during Black History Month, highlighting black perfumers. Summer 2025, I have a multisensory residency with gallery 836M, designed to foster interdisciplinary exchange between the senses of touch, smell, and hearing, featuring composer Danny Clay, tactile artist Naomi Rosenberg with me as leading the olfactive portion. We will host several open studios and a final exhibition in August.
I will continue my role as Creative Director of Scent Trunk with a new theme launching in 2025 with four new independent perfumers. I’m thrilled the brand has gained traction and there seems to be a growing appreciation for the artisan perfumers we commission. I’m so proud of our work together, collaborating with super talented perfumers and creating fragrances that are original works of art. In a world where dupes of dupes are launched regularly, we create fragrances that are off the beaten path.
As a consultant, I also work with new indie brands. With Amniens, we recently launched a duo of functional fragrances, beautiful meditative perfume oils that evoke wellness and connecting with mother nature. Nebbia all'alba is vetiver and sandalwood based while Colpo dell'onda revitalizes with citrus and vanilla. These are only available in the EU and UK currently. Another new brand I’m supporting with strategy is Free Yourself, a neuroperfumery company with fragrances and candles that create space to flourish. They debuted in Dubai at Beauty World and will show at ScentXplore in NY and Esxence in Milan.
How has the fragrance community evolved in the last 20 years?
It’s the most thrilling time to be in perfumery. Prior to covid, it seemed like the industry was on a steep cliff downward but thanks to many people suddenly losing their sense of smell and working from home, people’s sense of smell suddenly became not only a priority, but a coveted blessing. With many people not buying clothes or spending money on in-person events, perfume collecting became a universal obsession and the trend does not seem to be slowing down. Thanks to PerfumeTok, there seems to be a genuine community that’s inclusive and passionate. There’s much more education and transparency with room for different tastes, collections, functions, swaps, discovery sets, aesthetics and thousands of new brand launches. The designer brands seem to be launching niche collections and niche brands seem to be launching more edgy indie like fragrances. And influencer collabos give perfume lovers, previously gate-kept out of the industry, not only a way in, but a red carpet roll out. Most telling of all, VC’s and PE have entered the chat and there’s a mad rush for the next mega acquisition. New boutique retailers have popped up all over the country, not just haute parfumeries in Europe. New in-person events are convening all over the world. One needn’t fly to Europe to meet your fragrance bestie in person now.
What do you think the most interesting trend in the community is right now?
I am really loving how there’s more conversation about what fragrance is, how it’s being used, and what people want. Enthusiasts, industry insiders, and influencers alike have taken outdated vernacular and made up their own styles and categories. I love seeing people’s mood boards for various aesthetics and curated edits for scent trays of the week. The layering combos I’m seeing are high-low with designer and indie. There are no rules anymore, even with fragrance houses. For example, I love seeing traditional French perfumers collaborating with niche Arab Houses and smaller indie brands as well. I hope we see more well-established brands working with indie perfumers next.
What are you most concerned about?
As expected, with so much creative enthusiasm, there are still old-timers who want the perfume industry to remain the same. These are the dinosaurs who still insist, for example, on using “oriental” as a category. What they don’t realize is that many consumers have moved on and they refuse to purchase from racists and toxic brands. There are still some corporate entities and old-school European brands still launching brands with offensive marketing but honestly, I see more hope than challenges. The tides have turned and even the largest companies don’t have the word “oriental” in their search bars. My greatest hope is that certain organizations and databases that are stubborn to change, will do so eventually. I believe in the future, for them to stay relevant, they must flow with the times.
What advice do you have for people trying to get into fragrance as enthusiasts?
Smell, smell, smell! When you’re a new enthusiast in perfumery, there’s so much to sift through. In the beginning, you’re just figuring out what you like and how certain smells make you feel. There can be a lot of FOMO when you see people’s floor-to-ceiling collections! But honestly, get into swapping groups, buy discovery sets, and just have fun. It’s a lifelong passion!
What about people who want to start making perfume?
Everyone should start with the Institute for Art and Olfaction, both in-person and on-line workshops. Go to their education and resources section and enjoy falling down the rabbit hole. Once you buy some raw materials, you may decide you want to pursue it further, in which case there are more in-depth technical classes. I’m a big fan of Perfumer’s Apprentice for raw materials. Cirrus Parfum also recently launched a Nose Training Kit.
You are such a pillar in the fragrance community, especially in the Bay Area; what's your advice for cultivating community?
It’s important to hold the door open for the next person coming through. A large part of my personal philosophy has been to promote others doing good work. Since I started my perfume company in 2004, I have hosted multiple perfumers’ breakfasts with suppliers and produced events like the first San Francisco Artisan Fragrance Salon, which grew to be a multi-city event for nearly a decade. I’ve also hosted many perfumer dinners in Florence after Pitti Fragranze for all the out-of-towners. My proudest work is possibly producing Scent Festival during covid where I hosted over 60 live digital events on Instagram, Zoom, and YouTube. Whenever possible, I will promote perfumers doing amazing things and if I can, I collaborate with them, as I do with being the Creative Director at Scent Trunk.
I’m what Malcolm Gladwell calls a ‘connector.’ It gives me great joy to put kindred spirits together who have a similar ethos. If a journalist asks me for an interview for a quote, you better believe I’m going to stack the response with at least a dozen other references. I love to champion underdogs and mentor newbies coming up. I’ve written many references for students wanting to go to perfumery schools in France. I’m proud to be a hype woman for others, especially when I see a sparkle in their soul. It’s what makes me a good Creative Director and producer. I have a knack for sniffing out rising stars and trends. I automatically pay it forward and karma blesses me tenfold!
What is the most exciting thing to you in the world of indie perfumers?
I honestly love seeing new brands come to the market with original concepts - totally unrelated to what’s been traditionally done. This new wave of perfumers coming onto the scene has the benefit of pioneers who have paved the way for the market to be eager for unconventional scent profiles as well as accepting self-taught perfumers as legitimate. I also love seeing artists at large collaborating with perfumers to create scent installations so that people can experience olfaction in an artistic way, not just as a commodity in a bottle. I love music crossovers as well. I’ll never tire of fragrance and flavor pairings. But the most exciting trend I see in perfumery is an expansion of brands coming out of Asia, especially China, Korea, and South East Asia. The Arab Houses are here to stay, and Abeauty is next. (African Beauty). Too many to share but top contenders: Documents, Melt Season, To Summer, Tamburins, Non-Fiction, Mith, One Day Perfume, Maison del Asie, etc.
Which indie perfumers should we be talking about and supporting who may not be on everyone's radar?
I’m in love with all the perfumers I collaborate with through Scent Trunk, many who are still under the radar, like Ezra-Lloyd Jackson, Dana El Masri, Mauricio Garcia, or Syd Buffman. London seems to be turning out some excellent talent like Ezra, Maya Njie, Sam Macer and Mabelle O’Rama. On PerfumeTok, I’m loving the fun brands like d’Annam from Vietnam, Peosym from Australia, Sorcellerie Apothecary, Seattle Perfumers (a collective of indie perfumers from Seattle) and the incredible roster of talent at Black Perfumers Directory.
Who do you love following on social media in the fragrance world right now?
There are definitely content creators who are setting trends whom I love to follow. I never miss videos by Funmi Monet, Tracy Wan at Invisible Stories, Valerie the Niche Sampler, Haven Simmons at Uncommon Smells, LC James, Nearly Nose Blind, Yogi’s weekly scent tray at Sleeplesscents, Miss Lydi, Eau de Oddity, Lucy at Smell the Artwork, especially when it’s Nosevember. I tune into Emma Vernon’s Perfume Room Podcast as well as An Aromatic Life with Frauke Galia. I also love following other perfumers on TT like Rémi, Mason Hainey, Art and Alchemy, Wit and West, Samar Pit Crew and Rachel Binder.
What do you love most about the sense of smell?
Our sense of smell is a whole universe and we invite others into it through fragrance experiences. How we relate to smell and what it means to us is so different for each person. I learn something new every day!
What fragrances are you wearing right now?
I’m crazy about light ambers, spicy florals and quirky citruses! I recently made “Something light for Dark Souls” for a 7x7 Vacant to Vibrant pop-up and I’m in love with the carnation + gunsmoke accord with amber musk base.
Which fragrance do you wear when you want to feel festive around the holidays?
I love to wear Saffron by Shabnam Tavakol, Cloud Cardamom by Mauricio Garcia, or Stroopwafel by Ineke, all for Scent Trunk. While I was the Creative Director, the perfumers all knocked it out of the park with these! Saffron is an homage to Persian Bastani ice cream with saffron and rose. Cloud Cardamom is a fluffy cloud with juicy green notes and spicy cardamom. Stroopwafel is one of my favorite waffle desserts from the Netherlands. The scent smells like a holiday in a wintery place warmed by caramel waffles and coffee by the fireplace. They’re each different kinds of gourmands which I didn’t ever create for my own YOSH collection so I love wearing these fun fragrances. They feel rather decadent!
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
In-person swaps are sweeping the nation! Arabelle Sicardi at the Perfumed Pages is cool - she hosts a discord channel about Anti-Orientalism and also hosts virtual and in-person perfume swaps in LA and NY. Viv the Mole hosts one in the Bay Area.
Where fragrance wasn’t ever a big impulse buy at fairs, I’ve noticed recently at West Coast Craft, InTodo and Markets for Makers, consumers are buying scented multiples on the spot - fragrances, soaps, and candles. It’s been so cool to discover new brands at these fairs!
My go-to place to shop in San Francisco is Ministry of Scent where they stock YOSH perfumes and also Fiat Lux where you can find our perfume and jewelry collaborations: Poseidon and Circe. Be sure to follow them for the next Fillmore Scent Stroll that they co-hosted and produced.
Thank you, Yosh! So grateful for all you do for this community. 💖
You can follow Yosh here and here and purchase her fragrances here.
Brava, Yosh! Thanks for this interview. I'm grateful to have known Yosh for a while and I always want to hear about her latest work and her thoughts on new developments in the fragrance world. 🌟
What a wonderful interview! So excited to learn about someone whose interests/approach seem so aligned with mine. I sometimes get the vibe that amongst serious perfume lovers aromatherapy is not considered “cool” and might even be a “scam,” then people into aromatherapy are unduly concerned about all synthetics. As someone who also has a background in herbalism/wellness and partially got into perfume through what I would call “luxury aromatherapy” (along with a lot of time spent at Lush in my youth lol) it’s great to see someone who can champion both a focus on wellness AND champion cool, creative indie brands who creating art.